It was better when bitcoin was something new and people were discovering it, it was better when web wasn't super advanced and when crypto businesses were a new thing. It was just a good time, a new day, revolution in financial system, a new niche, a new thing to build business around.
Merit was implemented in 2017, this was the time when bitcoin gained widespread attention and become a very successful cryptocurrency. Also, since 2017, web and crypto businesses developed further and this forum lost popularity a little bit. This forum is not as mainstream as it was before and new things don't start from this forum like it was before.

So, I wouldn't ask whether was this forum better before merit or not, I would ask, was this forum better before 2017 or not. Btw it's noticeable that forum members are putting more effort to post high quality posts. To be honest, merit and high-paying signature campaigns, like Chipmixer, played very important role into making this forum a better place.